Mumbai attacks ‘were bid to start India-Pakistan war’

Life goes on: a young boy outside the Arthur Road jail courtroom ignores the presence of heavily armed security troops as he washes himself in the street today

THE TRIAL of the only gunman captured alive in the Mumbai terror attacks began today with the prosecution declaring that they were carried out with the support of the Pakistan army.

Ajmal Amir Kasab, 21, faces the death penalty if found guilty of charges including waging war and mass murder after being caught "red-handed" in the commando-style attacks last November which left 166 people dead and 304 injured.

Public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam said in his opening statement: "It is my positive case that there was a criminal conspiracy hatched in Pakistan with the ultimate aim of waging war and capturing the state of Jammu and Kashmir, which is part of India."

The Pakistan government has long resisted claims by India that the attacks were conceived in Pakistan with the backing of elements of the Pakistan authorities. It only officially confirmed that Kasab was a Pakistani citizen at the start of January.

But today's revelation, that the prosecution's case against Kasab centres on a Pakistani conspiracy, could further worsen relations between the nuclear neighbours.

Addressing the bombproof courtroom in Mumbai's Arthur Road jail, Mr Nikam said that Kasab and his Indian co-defendants, Fahim Ansar and Sabauddin Ahmed — who are accused of drawing up maps of targets — were just pawns of powerful figures in Pakistan.

"All the accused persons are the product of a strategic terror culture," he said. "This terror culture has permeated deep into Pakistan. With Lashkar-e-Taiba [a Pakistani terrorist group] it has taken a firm root in a culture where it is flourishing." Ten gunmen attacked Mumbai on 26 November, occupying the Taj and Trident-Oberoi hotels for three days.

Mr Nikam argued that the attacks could not have been mounted without advice and training from Pakistani military and intelligence professionals. "Can this type of intelligence training be given by a terrorist organisation? My submission is no'."

He noted Kasab's reference in his confession to a "major general sahib" attending training sessions and that a colonel in Pakistan's "special communications organisation" was registered as the user for the email used to sign up for an internet account used by the terrorists.

Mr Nikam said: "The first basic question is, who is that general, what role was he playing and why was he considered a leader by Lashkar-e-Taiba? And why was he interested in knowing the skill of Kasab?"

Mr Nikam said that the threat of a nuclear confrontation between India and Pakistan had led to a "radical change" in the concept of war, with terrorists fighting a "proxy war".

"They do everything they want to do without leaving their own country," he argued. "This is war in absentia."